Guide
Getting Things Done (GTD) explained simply
Getting Things Done, or GTD, is a method by David Allen that many people use to stay on top of work and home. The core idea is simple: your head is for having ideas, not for holding them. Everything you need to do goes into a system you trust, so your mind is free for the task in front of you.
The five steps of GTD
- 1Capture: write down everything that has your attention, big or small, in one inbox.
- 2Clarify: for each item, decide what it is. Is there something to do? What is the next concrete step? If it takes less than two minutes, do it right away.
- 3Organise: put it in the right place: a project, a list for a context, a date, or a list of things you are waiting for.
- 4Reflect: look over your lists regularly, above all in a weekly review.
- 5Engage: choose what to do now, based on where you are, the time and energy you have, and what matters most.
The lists GTD uses
- Inbox: everything new, before you have thought about it.
- Next actions: the next concrete step for everything you want to move forward.
- Projects: every outcome that takes more than one step.
- Waiting for: things that lie with someone else, with who and since when.
- Someday/maybe: ideas you do not want to commit to yet.
- Calendar: only what really has to happen on a certain day or time.
Where GTD often goes wrong
GTD is excellent at collecting everything, but it says little about how much fits in a day. Many people end up with a long list of next actions and a day that has far fewer hours than the list. The result is the same guilty feeling the method was meant to remove.
A simple addition helps: give next actions a duration and plan only what fits your hours. That is the idea behind a realistic day plan.
Setting up GTD in Plenzu
- Inbox: add tasks in seconds with quick add; anything without a workspace lands in the Inbox.
- Projects: workspaces hold bigger outcomes, with a status (Idea, Active, Waiting, Done) and sub-workspaces.
- Waiting for: mark a task as waiting with the person’s name and a day to ask. It stays out of your hours until then.
- Someday/maybe: a workspace with the status Idea, or let a task go; it is kept, so nothing is lost.
- Reflect: the built-in week review shows what you did and helps you fill next week.
- Engage: Today shows what is planned, with a time bar, so you see whether it fits.
Questions
What is the two-minute rule in GTD?
If something takes less than two minutes, do it right away instead of writing it down. Tracking it would cost more time than doing it.
Do I need a special app for GTD?
No, paper works too. An app helps because you can capture from anywhere, and lists like Waiting for and the weekly review are easier to keep up.
What is the difference between a project and a next action?
A project is an outcome that takes more than one step, such as "renovate the kitchen". A next action is the very next physical step, such as "call two kitchen shops for a quote".